The US birth rate is the lowest in 32 years, says the CDC: NPR

In the United States, the birth rate fell again in 2018 to 3 788 235, which represents a 2% decrease compared to 2017. This is the number of births the most low in 32 years, according to a new federal report. The numbers have also lowered the US fertility rate to record levels.

It's not since 1986 that the United States has seen so many babies being born. And it's an ongoing recession: 2018 was the fourth consecutive year of declining births, according to the Interim Birthrate Report of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Birth rates fell for almost all racial and age groups, with women increasing only slightly in their late thirties and early forties, according to the CDC.

This news surprised demographers, who said that with the continued growth of the US economy and labor market for several years, they expected the birth rate to show signs of stabilization, even increase. But instead, the downturn could force changes in the country's outlook on appearance – with an older population and fewer young workers to maintain key social systems.

"It's a national problem," says Dowell Myers, a demographer at the University of Southern California.

"The birth rate is a barometer of desperation," said Myers in response to CDC data. Explaining this idea, he explained that young people would not plan for motherhood unless they are optimistic about their future.

"At first we thought it was the recession," Myers said of the recent slowdown in births. But after a slight rise in 2012, the rate has collapsed. He adds that according to almost all economic criteria – with the exception of high housing costs – the birth rate should now increase.

For what is behind the negative sentiment in people of childbearing age, Myers cites the current political turmoil and gloomy prospects for the future of the United States.

"Not many things are going well," he says, "and this haunts young people in particular, more than the elderly."

Many parents or future parents also reacted to the report Wednesday using social media to list a series of barriers to maternity in the United States, ranging from the frustration of finding child care to the high costs associated with insurance, lack of parental leave and other forms of support. systems. And they note that if the national economy is well behaved, workers' wages do not progress at the same pace.

As Elena Parent, a state senator in Georgia, wrote on Twitter"Parents know why their birth rate is falling, kids are expensive, time consuming and our society does not make things easy."

According to Penn State sociologist Sarah Damaske, job security is another factor, even in times of low unemployment.

"From January 2009 to December 2017, 36.6 million American jobs were lost – it's more jobs than during the Great Recession," Damaske said. "Thus, even if the unemployment rate is better, companies continue to use layoffs to maintain their profits at the expense of their workers."

Citing conversations with people who have lost their jobs over the past decade, Damaske – who writes a book on the subject – said some workers have resigned themselves to the possibility of not finding a stable job.

"When you think you might not be able to find a stable job, it's harder to imagine how to form a family," she says.

Part of the trend also reflects a cultural shift, as more and more Americans delay marriage and the education of children. While women in their twenties traditionally gave birth to the largest number of babies in the United States, women in their 30s had a higher birth rate in 2017, for the first time in their lives. And this gap has widened in 2018.

Preliminary CDC data are generally seen as a positive point: Adolescents experienced a further sharp drop in their birth rate, dropping from 7% in 2018 to 17.4 births per 1,000 adolescents aged 15-19. This rate has now decreased by 58% since. 2007 and 72% since 1991.

The delivery rate by cesarean delivery, or cesarean section, has fallen to 31.9% in 2018, says the CDC. This represents a decrease from the peak of 32.9% recorded in 2009. The rate of cesarean procedures in low risk cases also decreased to 25.9% of all deliveries.

From 2017 to 2018, the number of births decreased by 1% for Hispanic women and by 2% for black non-Hispanic non-Hispanic black women. The rate decreased by 3% among women identified as non-Asian and of non-Hispanic Asian origin (Native American and Native of Alaska).

The latest birth rate data further moves the United States away from a viable replacement rate – the standard for a generation being able to replicate its numbers. The United States has not generally reached this level since 1971, according to the CDC.

The total fertility rate fell to 1,728 births per 1,000 women in their lifetime, down 2% from 2017. This rate is well below the replacement rate of 2,100 births per 1,000 women.

The Census Bureau has long predicted that future demographic growth in America will increasingly rely on immigration, despite a historically higher fertility rate than similar developed countries.

According to the demographic clock of the census agency, the United States currently earns one person every 16 seconds, in part because they add an international migrant every 34 seconds. Both are net results, which means that they represent deaths and out-migration.